Death of the Republic
by MKStanley
Summary: Revan's great Sith Empire was never the true threat, and he knew it. Too bad no one else did. If the Council and the Republic only took him seriously, this wouldn't be necessary! But I guess it's true what they say about if you want a job done right... M!Revanx... probably Bastila? Somewhat AU, follows the main game, but not a retelling.
1. Prologue

Pain. Suffering. Death. Over and over and over, like a plague sweeping across the galaxy, causing everything it touches to wither and die. The darkness crushes everything in its path, then nothing. Then it begins again, scenes from a holovid. The fountain. The robes. The swords of pure beautiful light. The Fo... The course? The source? Something is wrong, something is missing. Then are the soldiers, clad in distinctive, almost tribal, armor, not of the darkness but touched by it. They spread, and we put up no resistance. We? Who is we? There is an argument, some of us leave. To where? To stand against the soldiers, of course. Source. Remorse. _What is it?_ We march and the soldiers are driven back, back, to the planet at the edge of space. Malachor V. That name cannot be forgotten. Refuses to die, a ghost that haunts. How appropriate. And then, beyond that... Pain. Suffering. Death. Darkness. Then, the maps. Not old, _ancient_. Then, the temple. No, not a temple. Not a shrine, either. Not a factory, or armory, or shipyard. A monument, perhaps, a hulking, menacing testament to the arrogance of those who built it. But useful, nonetheless. A slight flickering flame to light the great fire to stand against the darkness. But will it burn brightly or be reduced to ashes? Then... familiar faces, first scorn, then disgust, then hated, and finally... fear. Fear because of me. They don't know what fear is. Fear is darkness, choking, strangling, smothering, consuming you and extinguishing everything and everyone and death and destruction and silence and-

Fear is the reason why. They ask why, pleading, as though what I'm doing is horrible. They don't know the meaning. Genocide is unfortunate, mass extinction a tragedy, the utter annihilation of all life in our galaxy? Now that... that is horrible. War is barely an inconvenience. They are weak. Not from the war before, the war I led them in, they were weak before that. They argue and bicker and everyone takes a cut until there's nothing left for anyone else. If I have to destroy this old, weak, useless society in order to save it, then I will. First dozens of systems fall to me, then hundreds. Eventually I don't even have to fire a shot when I arrive, they simply roll over and give up.

Then... the one with gold in her hands and gold in her eyes. She is not enough to change anything but she slows me down, which is more than anyone else has done. I want her. She is... interesting. Powerful. And young, less certain, more... afraid. I watch her, and then they devise a plan, so devious, so cunning, so idiotically, blatantly obvious I'm offended they think it will work. And so unlike them, desperation shows their true colors. Sending children to be assassins, how disgusting. But it delivers _her_ right to me, so who am I to complain? I allow them to board, keep my troops away, herd them to the bridge where I can fight them all unimpeded. The 'elite' troopers I kill immediately, they were foolish to come and should have known better. The others though, I take my time with.

It's been so long since I've had a good spar, it's enjoyable to deal with them the old-fashioned way. There were four of them, easy enough, but then _she_ was there. They fought harder and longer than they should have, and I almost had to actually try to defeat them. Almost. And then she fought, and it was magnificent. She moved with such ethereal grace, as though she were in tune with some greater power, and it was beautiful to watch. There was no threat to me, the fools that commanded her used her only for her ability and discarded her when they grew desperate, without properly training her, but I enjoyed toying with her, watching her struggle to persevere, to hold out, such determination... it makes sense that she would be able to inspire such greatness in her allies when she is so filled with it herself. But eventually she tired, and I disarmed her. Well not literally, ha. Before I could have a proper chat with her, however, something happened... an explosion? Alek! That useless hutt-slime! He betrayed me, tried to force his way into my... wait, force? What is-

 **A/N: I'm not dead! I'm so sorry my other stories have been dumped by the wayside, I really want to rewrite my Pokemon fic and finish it but it just seems so intimidating and I really just can't bring myself to do it. And I want to finish my TwoKinds fic but I was just hit by the urge to write this so… here it is. You're just going to have to take what you can get.**


	2. Chapter 1 - Nice Try, Assholes

**Chapter 1: Nice Try, Assholes**

I'm tossed out of bed, landing painfully on the floor, though at this point I'm not sure whether that or the warning klaxon is responsible for waking me up. I'm not groggy, but I am confused. Living on the fringes of civilized society has trained me to go from fully asleep to fully awake immediately _(the jungles of Dxun, where I led a force of... no, that's not right)_ , but I don't know where I am. The colors are familiar but it's not comforting, it's concerning. I start to stand up when an explosion rocks the ship and I'm nearly thrown across the room.

I half-land half-crash on top of a footlocker against the wall, and as I look out the window behind me I see a Sith _(but not **Sith** )_ cruiser bearing down on us, though oddly enough that doesn't elicit any feelings of fear in me. I quickly search the footlocker and find clothes and weapons and a datapad with a name and some information on it. The clothes fit perfectly but they're uncomfortable, wrong somehow, the wrong color and style, maybe? They'll do for now though, and I have more important concerns. The weapons suck, to put it bluntly, standard-issue Republic garbage, not even so much as a vibroblade. I'll have to find new ones soon.

I look at the datapad and I have to wonder what poor dork is stuck with a name like 'Akir Streead', but apparently he or she was a smuggler that got caught and agreed to serve the Republic in order to get out of prison time. Something tries to tell me that it's talking about me but I quickly dismiss that, that would be ridiculous. Everything about this is suspicious and I don't like it, why are there clothes that fit me and a datapad with what amounts to a biography about some random smuggler? I try to make sense of this and discern some connection when I realize I can't remember my name. I play with words, looking for something familiar- I dive behind a bunk and activate my stealth field; and a few seconds later I hear the door slide open and booted footsteps run in. I grab the longsword and peek my head up, careful not to give myself away. There's a Republic soldier and I can tell he's here for me. Je- scoundrels instincts, they've never led me wrong before. He starts looking around and I carefully approach him... before slicing down and separating his head from his body. I hear his comlink beep, then a voice

"Trask! Trask! I lost your vitals, are you alright? Trask! Damn it!"

I crush the comlink before heading for the door, but it's in emergency lockdown and I can't slice it. I pace in front of the door when I feel a tingle in the back of my mind, an old memory..? _"standard Republic codes are on a..." "frequency of the cycle is different for each ship but if you..."_ and then I know what to do. I hack into the door terminal and input the correct override code and something in me laughs _(it's still so easy, of course they haven't changed it)_ but I keep moving. I have to figure out what's going on here.

I impassively watch the Sith kill the Republic soldiers, then when they turn on me I destroy them all, slashing, shooting, dodging, a whirling dance of death amongst them - even with such poor equipment. As I kill, I absentmindedly decide to strip the next officer I encounter, I find grey to be a much better color scheme than the fluorescent orange and yellow I'm currently stuck with. I move through the ship, killing everyone I come across and looting the bodies, picking up slightly better gear on my route to the escape pods. The layout is strangely familiar to me, ingrained into some part of me, and as I pass I notice that all the internal weak points of the structure are untouched. _They want someone alive, then._

I reach for the next door when I feel it, like a faint flickering flame warming me through the door. I open it and there are a Jedi and Sith _(not a Sith, but closer)_ fighting, totally engrossed in each other. As I watch, I notice the Jedi is better _(her form is flawed, imperfect, but her moves are fluid and sure)_ but she is tired. The dark Jedi notices this _(Finally! What imbecile taught you?)_ and even though he's not very good his exhausted opponent is bound to make a mistake eventually, and I know he's going to go for the kill when she does. I thank my lucky stars for the cortosis weave vibroblade I found, then run in swinging viciously and unpredictably, surprising the dark one. The Jedi gasps and yells at me,

"Run! Get out of here! I cannot hold him much longer!"

I let out a genuine, boisterous laugh, startling the both of them. It's cute, how self-sacrificing the Jedi are _(but not the old ones, those disgusting hypocritical pigs)_ , and I decide I'm somewhat fond of her, trying to save the life of some generic soldier she's never even met. I'm struck by a sudden warning and I tackle the Jedi just as a panel explodes right where she was standing. She's out cold but still breathing and the dark Jedi backs off, wary of further explosions. I don't give him the chance to recover, dashing up to him and swinging recklessly. He parries and weaves, cautious for a moment, then goes on the offensive. Something tingles at the edge of my mind, whispering to me. _Form V, Djem So._

I frantically block his swings, allowing my instincts to guide me, becoming surer as the fight goes on. This tugs at my memory, I have no recollection of fighting like this but it feels so familiar that I know I have to have done so... why can't I remember?

By this time I'm lazily deflecting or dodging his strikes, leading him around in a deadly dance, driving him to even greater rage with his ineffectiveness. Being in combat against a lightsaber is exhilarating, and knowledge flows into me. Forms, styles, moves, it's not just reflex anymore, I understand why my sword is moving where it is. I feel things, not just knowledge flowing through me, but something else, something... _more_. I try to hold on to that feeling, recreate it, and then all of a sudden I stop.

... and almost get sliced in two. I vacantly defend myself, sorting through this new _(no, old)_ information. I start laughing, quietly at first, then louder, until I'm practically cackling maniacally. I switch to offense, flowing through forms one after another before settling on the most familiar: a sort of mish-mash between Makashi and Juyo. I attack wildly, cutting and slashing unpredictably yet with unerring precision before I decide to finish it by removing his hands. My laughter dies off and I muse to myself, "the Council has failed, as usual."

I look at the terrified dark Jedi underneath my sword and speak.

"I'm very grateful to you, the truth is I didn't know who I was before, but now I remember quite a bit more than I did. In fact I'm so grateful I might not even kill you, although really I should, it's absolutely shameful that anyone thought you were even remotely capable of managing a task such as this by yourself. But I understand that times are desperate and let's face it, Alek was always a fool anyways."

He looked entirely confused and I took pity,

"You see, I am Revan."

I smiled at him, he still looked confused but now he was skeptical as well. I leaned down and whispered to him,

"Then let me prove it."

I immediately tore into his mind, whatever measly defenses he had obliterated, and forced him my memories into him, using him to sort through them and recall everything I possibly could. Then I shredded his consciousness until there was nothing left but an empty husk, and I withdrew. He collapsed to the ground, lifeless eyes staring blankly ahead, and I spoke without moving.

"Well I did say I wouldn't kill you. Still, after seeing all that I could hardly risk someone discovering my secrets, now could I?"

I turned to the unconscious Jedi and hoisted her over my shoulders, then pocketed the lightsabers from both of them and set out for the escape pods again. Any Sith troopers I encountered I quickly disposed of, it was unfortunate but my priority had to be getting off the dying ship and I knew that Alek didn't care about individual lives anyways, they probably had no means of escape. At least that's how I justified it. Eventually I reached the starboard escape pods and I stepped through the doors to see a Republic pilot in an obnoxious orange jacket waiting for me.

"You made it! I've been tracking your life signs through- wait, that's one of the Jedi accompanying Bastila! What happened?"

I raised one eyebrow in confusion,

"You really couldn't tell there were two life forms? Whatever, we don't have time for this, help me get her in the pod."

He quickly jumped to follow my orders and after she was strapped in he stood up and stared suspiciously at me,

"I agree we don't have much time but this is important, showing up with an unconscious Jedi is pretty damn unusual! You'll have to answer a few questions when we land."

I put a comforting hand on his shoulder but he just looked suspiciously at it,

"Actually no, I won't."

And I activated the lightsaber I had drawn with my other hand. He stared down in shock at the crimson lightsaber extending into his stomach and I withdrew it, being certain to eviscerate him so there was no chance of retaliation.

"Sorry, I'd really prefer not to kill you but you can't trust me and I certainly can't trust you and my survival is far more important, not to mention in a more long term sense you're the enemy anyways. But don't worry, the shock will set in very soon so it shouldn't hurt for long."

With that, I pushed him away from the pod, secured myself, and launched us towards the planet without a single backwards glance.


	3. Chapter 2 - Tall, Dark, and Handsome?

I sat in silence in the seemingly abandoned apartment, thankful for the chance to rest and take stock of things. The landing on Taris was unpleasant to say the least, but I managed to drag myself and the Jedi to an abandoned apartment before anyone discovered us. I placed her on one of the beds and pulled her from unconsciousness straight into a healing trance. I needed to tend to my own wounds as well, but I needed to sort myself out and decide what to tell and what not to tell the Jedi first. I could easily kill her, especially since I still held her lightsaber, but she seemed nice enough so I really didn't want to. I eventually decided to tell a half-truth, well maybe more like a quarter-truth really, that I had learned under an unorthodox teacher that didn't believe in light or dark, if she asked at least. With that out of the way I moved on to other things, mainly my memories. They were mostly sorted but there were two places in particular that were missing or fragmented. The most recent and most easily explainable was the time between Alek's final betrayal to waking up on the Republic cruiser. I probably hit my head in the explosion, and with the Jedi fumbling around in my mind on top of that it's amazing I had anything left at all, so I wasn't concerned about that.

Less certain though was the period of time immediately following the Mandalorian war... there was something about the Sith, and the Star Forge, and I know it was directly related to why I had been deep in the Outer Rim, but the memories were hazy at best, as was the location of the Forge... I shrugged, it'd come to me eventually, but for now I needed rest. True rest, not the induced coma the Jedi had put me in. I settled onto the bed in my preferred meditative position with my knees underneath me and sank into myself, calling the force to heal and rejuvenate me...

* * *

I woke with a start, the last memories of the Endar Spire and the Sith causing me to reach for my lightsaber. I panicked for a moment when I couldn't find it, wondering if I had been captured, and then I heard something that scared me more than any Sith ever could.

"Are you looking for this?"

Just that simple statement made me shiver, his voice oozed power in a way I thought only Jedi Masters could, but it wasn't obvious like theirs, it was far more subtle, like someone pouring thick black oil into you, smothering all your senses until only the voice remained. It was the kind of voice that slithered into you and compelled you to obey, then made it think it was your idea from the start. I couldn't tell if it was a trick of the Force or not, but the scariest part was even knowing what he was doing, I would still obey any command he gave me without hesitation.

I looked over to see the owner of the voice leaning casually against a table, seemingly relaxed and at ease. Much like a great cat deciding if you were worth eating. He looked unremarkable, with pale skin and brown hair, with only piercing green eyes as a distinguishing feature, yet the way he stood... The fact that he was balancing my lightsaber on a single slender finger didn't make me feel any safer. I was surprised when he tossed it to me and I fumbled with it, barely managing to grab it. I could only stutter out,

"Y-your voice... who are you?"

He looked at me appraisingly,

"You have a gift, I've only had two other people notice that in my entire life."

He smirked at me and I felt another shudder of fear run through me,

"Perhaps you have more potential than I thought... come here."

I felt myself standing up and moving towards him before I even realized what was happening.

"You're going to attack me, and if I deem your attempt 'acceptable', I will answer three questions."

The Jedi code had a number of written tenets, but far more unwritten ones, most equally emphasized. Never attack an unnamed opponent was one of them, and while I had no doubt this man was far more dangerous with both hands tied behind his back than any enemy most Jedi would ever encounter, he still had no weapons that I could see. Of course, that didn't prevent my body from ignoring years of ingrained teachings and igniting my lightsaber to strike at him. The next moment, I was on the floor and he was standing over me holding _my_ lightsaber to my throat. I had no recollection of how I ended up there, nor had I seen him move, but the soreness of my back gave credence to the idea that he had put me there. He stared at me, inscrutable green eyes focused intently, then spoke.

"Question 1."

I tried my best to collect my wits and respond before he lost patience.

"Um... who are you?"

He stared a moment longer before retracting the lightsaber and allowing me to sit up, then answering.

"That's a more complex question than you may think, but for now... Navre will suffice, I believe. And unless the Jedi have radically changed their teachings in the past decade, I am also your only hope of getting off this planet."

"What do you mean?"

He shrugged,

"The Sith have blockaded the planet, no ships in or out except those specifically allowed. I doubt there's even any smugglers willing to risk it, and since I know the Jedi don't teach the subtleties of street smarts, it means you need my help. And I could probably use you, as well."

I swallowed nervously, the last part had been almost an afterthought, and though logically I knew if he were going to kill me he probably would've by now, I had no way of knowing what his plans were, or if any of them included me remaining alive.

"That was question two, by the way."

His smooth words drew me out of my ruminations, and while I wanted to ask a question with depth that would give me useful information about the situation or him, my mouth had gone ahead of my brain and blurted out what I really wanted to know.

"Are you going to k-kill me?"

He chuckled, not the bright laugh I faintly remembered from the ship, but instead an almost condescending sound, as though there were an inside joke only he was privy to.

"No, I'm not going to kill you."

Against my will, I let out a sigh of relief and relaxed. He easily could've been lying to put me at ease, and I suspected he often did so, but I couldn't help but believe him, even against my better judgment.

"You may later wish that I had, however."

I tensed up, almost expecting him to attack, not that I would've been able to stop him if he had, but he merely strolled past me and sat on the floor where he had set up two mats, likely for meditation.

"You need to learn how to quiet yourself. This planet is bursting with life, but even the dimmest candle is a sun amongst glimworms. If the Sith are looking for Jedi, they will find you, and then leaving becomes much more difficult. Come. Sit."

I was still nearly paralyzed with fear, but I acted anyways, sitting across from him and waiting to see what he would do.

"Close your eyes. Listen to my voice, not with your ears, but instead reach out and _feel_ it..."

As his words trailed off, I stretched out, feeling the presence of the people of the planet, human and alien alike. I didn't know how far I reached, but there were thousands of lives that I could see and touch, all the same, but all slightly different. Beyond them was the blur of millions or billions more, all fading into the distance. I always loved doing this, seeing the life that filled the galaxy, it was beautiful to me. Then I noticed the presence closest to me. At first glance, it was no different than the thousands of others, but when I looked closer, it was... off, somehow. I reached out to touch it, then it exploded, filling my non-existent senses with an indescribable array of colors, textures, tastes, and a thousand other sensations the I had no words for. It felt as though I were looking at life itself, a glimpse into the very essence of the force. I stared for months, years, millennia even, they all passed me by as I tried to see through the veil of existence at what lay beyond-

*SLAP*

It was dark and grey, and the floor was cold beneath my back as I stared up at the ceiling of the apartment. I vaguely realized I was shaking, as though I had been in a ship with a faulty heater. The only thing that felt warm was the stinging sensation on my cheek. I felt hands on my arm, pulling me up, and even as dazed as I was I complied. I blinked as I realized there was a hand waving in front of my face, the last vestiges of my confusion mostly leaving me.

"W-what-"

My mouth was suddenly dry and I licked my lips and tried again.

"What was that?"

I tried to refocus on the man across from me and had to wipe at my blurry eyes twice before I realized I was crying. He was looking at me very intently, and for once I could see an emotion other than cool amusement or aloofness on his face. He seemed... concerned, almost.

"Are you alright?"

I had to think about that for a moment before responding with a quiet yes.

"What happened?"

"You almost got lost, and for someone as talented and perceptive as you, that would've been quite the tragedy."

"What did I" - _tastetouchfeelhear-_ "see?"

"I suspect it was the force. If you are strong enough in the force, you can look out into the galaxy and see... everything. Life itself, which is the force itself."

"But it was coming from you! How do you keep that hidden?"

"Not from me, but through me. And yes, it's not easy, but I can teach you. And I will teach you, or else the Sith will find you, and kill you. Now, begin again, but ignore my presence this time. Truth be told I didn't expect you to truly see me at all."

And so it went, for what must've been hours, until he was satisfied. Passable, he declared. Afterwards he said he was going out till gather supplies and information, and that I should rest, though it clearly wasn't a suggestion. As my eyes closed, seeking sleep this time, my last thoughts were of my strange new companion. 

**A/N: Oh hai. I'm not dead, I promise, and I'm not particularly happy with this chapter either, but then again I never am and you guys seem to like it so here you go, I guess. I'm currently playing through KoTOR again, so I'll be writing at least a bit more. And to the reviewer that complained that Revan was 'petty' in the last chapter, well you're wrong, but I do see your point. No, that wasn't the intention, and no, you don't really find that out until this chapter. And now you know.**


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